We have a big family and wanted a waffle maker. We wanted a Big Big waffle maker. Mom does not want to make any child wait for their waffles. Unfortunately, the seemingly biggest waffle makers had review that said they cooked un-evenly (because of their square shape) and were hard to clean if they spilled.
We settled for this medium large waffle iron and were very happy. It cooks large waffles so fast, we can cook waffles faster than three children can eat them and actually have left-overs to freeze. Two waffles are enough even for the most ravenous child. The cooking is very even and it is really nice to have both the controls for darkness and for texture. Waffles do cook a little more slowly if the control is set to even texture, but we prefer the crunchy outside texture setting better anyway.
The iron is easy to use, cleans up well, directs spills away from the controls, and heats up quickly. Seems sturdy, but let us use it a year or two to see how it wears with time.
The waffles freeze and recook well, though we suggest using wax paper between them in large stacks. No more Eggos.
I got this as a gift for my wife who likes heart shaped things and secretly I wanted a nice waffle maker too. I've tried a few different waffle makers, Belgian and the smaller grid traditional ones. Not a big Belgian fan, and the smaller traditional waffle irons I tried seemed better at making waffle crackers.
However the M840... wow! My wife and I made a bunch of waffles our first day. We tried all the settings to see which we liked best. There are two controls... a dial (1 to 5) to dial in your brown-ness level, and a switch that toggles from a more evenly softer waffle to a more crispy waffle. The softer waffles reminded me of the waffles you'd get at Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles (for you SoCal people out there). I preferred the more crispy setting.... crispy on the outside and still tender on the inside. Not crispy and dry like some cheaper waffle irons I've tried.
The iron takes a few minutes to warm up, but once it reaches its optimal temperature it cooks waffles in about 90 seconds or so. One ladle scoop of batter was the perfect amount to avoid any leaks of batter out of the iron.
The hearts break apart easily, would be great for small kids when you want a smaller portion.
We tried freezing some waffles we made and then used a toaster oven the next morning to warm them up and had great results. My wife said the reheated waffles were just as good if not better than the fresh ones.
The only downside to this waffle iron is the size of the waffle... its a little on the small side. Where I might eat two waffles from other waffle irons, I would probably eat three from this one. Not really a problem since the M840 cooks them pretty darn quick.
Cord can be folded and tucked into the bottom of the iron's base when storing.
Coming from the country of Norway our family have been raised on waffles. Since arriving in the US we have been through several and having worn out the last one, we went on the internet to check out the ratings for a new one.
We have had our Chef's Choice M840 WafflePro iron for 6 wks now, and love it! At first we had problems with spillage - as this iron takes less batter than our previous one. We have adjusted and find that we get perfectly made waffles every time. We had planned to buy two (as we often have guests over and need to be able to keep up with the demand), but wanted to try one out before we comited to the other. We have scrapped that idea - as this iron's turn-around is so efficient that we have no problem satisfying the demand. The iron is easy to clean and has logical controls and alerts.Chef's Choice M840 WafflePro - Five of Hearts
My husband loves waffles. He likes them crisp on the outside, moist on the inside. With my 25-year old GE waffle iron, I'd make extra-large batches once every two months and freeze them for reheating them, on demand, one-by-one in the toaster oven. Alas, I dropped the GE, broke it's handle, and decided that it was time for a new waffle iron.
I did my homework. I checked out equipment reviews on Cooks Illustrated and read all of the reviews for every non-Belgian waffle iron here on Amazon. This Chef's Choice M840 won the day. Here are the reasons why I hate it and am sentencing it to Goodwill after only a week and two waffle-making attempts.
1. It's extremely easy to overfill. After a few attempts at calibrating the pour, I started to get it right. BUT see #2.
2. It's virtually impossible to clean. No part of this waffle iron is detachable nor can any of it be put under water. As a result, when the buttery batter oozes all over the machine, there is no way to get it out of the cracks and crevices of the machine. In addition, little crumbs linger in the clover-shaped iron plates and, short of getting out my vacuum cleaner to remove them, they were still there the second time I used the machine. Ick!
3. As another reviewer pointed out, the paint is very cheap. On the first paper-towel rubdown (I cannot in good conscience call it a cleaning), the paint for the directional copy rubbed off.
4. (This is a good point.) The waffles cook fast. (BUT, see #6.)
5. (This is another good point.) The maker has a "ding" to notify you when the waffle is done.
6. (This is the death sentence.) It makes really skinny waffles. (I'm not talking about the clover shape. I'm talking about the depth of the waffle.) Belgian waffles for us are about two times too thick for us. On the other hand, these waffles were about half as thick as the ones we've come to think of as "normal". It's OK when you eat them straight from the waffle-iron; however, after freezing and reheating in a toaster oven, they have the consistency of crackers.
I'm so sad. - Waffle Irons - Waffle Iron - Best Waffle Maker - Waffles - Waffle'
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